Third, note that the most important set of problems that agile methods overcome stem from BUFR, not just from BUFD. Arguably, this realization renders agile more directly important to product managers than to developers.

An agile product manager works in a fundamentally different way with both developers and customers. It's not just a matter of how and at what pace the requirements are delivered to developers. It's also how the requirements are elicited.

An agile product manager doesn't just interview and observe customers to understand their problems. She involves customers in an iterative feedback loop by "releasing" preliminary versions of the product to them. This feedback loop provides a way of eliciting requirements after implementation has begun but well before the product is officially released into production.

It's unfortunate that the term "agile" originally applied only to development. If you look at agile product management as merely something that a product manager does to co-exist with agile development, then it does seem silly to adopt (or co-opt) the buzzword.

But it turns out agile doesn't just enable developers to design and implement code more efficiently and reliably. It also enables product managers to understand their markets more efficiently and reliably.

So the popular notion that agile methods help developers, and that they therefore need product managers to cooperate, has it backwards. The opposite notion is equally, if not more, valid. Agile methods benefit product managers, and they need developers to fall in line to enable agile product management.

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About Me

I'm a downtown Austin dweller with a passion for food, football (playing it, not watching it), knowledge, nutrition, investing, and a low-car lifestyle. In my professional life, I empower teams to make smart product decisions by applying design thinking, lean startup methods, and timeless marketing principles.